We Own the Night details

We Own the Night
Formats: 15 DVD, Blu-ray
Starring: Alex Veadov, Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Dominic Colon, Danny Hoch, Oleg Taktarov
Director: James Gray
Genres: Drama - Crime, Thriller - Crime
Studio: UNIVERSAL
Collections: Top 400 All-Time Rentals
Name Discs
We Own the Night
15 Feature

DVD Information

Run time: 1 hour 57 minutes
Rental release: 28 Apr 2008
Main languages: English
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Most helpful review We Own the Night

  • We Own The Night

    Rated - 4.0 stars  
    By ValleyJohn (96 reviews) from Biggleswade , 12 Mar 2008

    THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Show review anywayHide

    [Highly rated reviewer]

    I must review over 150 movies a year . Sometimes , when i am on a bad run , it can become a chore . But what makes sitting through another laugh less Will Ferrell movie a little more acceptable is when an unexpected gem comes along that blows you away. We own the night is one such gem.

    Bobby Green has turned his back on the family business. The popular manager of El Caribe, the legendary Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, he has changed his last name and concealed his connection to a long line of distinguished New York cops. For Bobby, every night is a party, as he greets friends and customers or dances with his beautiful Puerto Rican girlfriend, Amada, in a haze of cigarette smoke and disco music. But it's 1988, and New York City's drug trade is escalating. Bobby tries to keep a friendly distance from the Russian gangster who is operating out of the nightclub--a gangster who is being targeted by his brother, Joseph, an up-and-coming NYPD officer, and his father, Burt, the legendary deputy chief of police.

    I'm not sure what was released the same week at We own the night but it must have been great for this to have slipped under the radar . I don't remember it getting a great deal of publicity or even a lot of reviewers column inches but it sure as hell should have!

    Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic as Bobby Green .A man so stuck between a rock and a hard place that his life is in tatters . consumed by grief and suffering an intolerable amount of stress this emotional performance is of the highest quality . There are several scenes that Joaquin manages to get right into the skin of Bobby . Thanks to this talented actor , you feel his hate and anger , his frustration and his grief and that is something not many leading men can manage to do .

    There are also good performances from Eva Mendes and the Legendary Robert Duvall.

    Mark Wahlberg is always expressionless when acting and the same goes for his portrayal of Joseph . He's a little too one dimensional but because he picks his films well his inabilities as an actor seem to be forgotten .

    Considering this film is two hours long it seemed to fly by and if anything could have benefited with maybe another half an hour .

    There are two scenes especially that stand out for me. One is when Bobby confronts his brother after his is taken in when his club is raided and the other is the car chase scene when his father gets shot . Both are compelling as they are shocking.

    The closest i can compare this film to is The Departed . The subject matter is very similar but i liked this better . It's grittier and has a sound track that will bring back many great memories if you were an eighties teenager like me.

    If i had to criticise this film for anything it is that the final showdown with the Russians was a little bit of an anti climax considering how edgy the rest of the film was. .

    This is soon forgotton when in a moving final scene the two brothers tell each other exactly how they feel .

    A fitting climax to a brilliant film.

    9 out of 10
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  • The Mendes Boob....

    Rated - 3.5 stars  
    By a customer , 03 Apr 2013

    THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Show review anywayHide

    loved everything about this movie, mostly the fact that mark wahlberg is in it! joaquin put a decent performance and Eva Mendes' boob made my day, just comes to show how powerful drugs really can be and how it can ruin lives so fast.. bit unrealistic how he just became a cop in like a day though.
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  • great start but second half typical american

    Rated - 2.5 stars  
    By a customer , 30 Sep 2012
    started of really well, thought it was going to be really good but then in typical american style they do stuff completely unrealistic
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  • Bit flat

    Rated - 2.5 stars  
    By gianino (618 reviews) from London , 28 Jul 2012
    I usually fancy Joaquim & Marky; however, the first looks a bit porky and the second has a funny haircut. The plot is conventional, the acting is good but the movie seems bit flat and boring. Shame coz I like both of them and Eva too.
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  • Ignore the 1star reviews - these people are not right

    Rated - 3.0 stars  
    By highwayman (2 reviews) , 01 Jun 2012
    Do not listen to people who have given this one star. This film is easily worth 3. Yes, it could have been better, but, the acting is excellent, I cared what happened to the characters, which to me is essential for me to stay engaged. I would not say it's predictable, although the ending is a slight let down. One of the best car chases I've seen, totally different to standard hollyWood high budget fare.

    Well worth watching, if this had had a bit more work around the edges and the pace had been tightened up, it would have been an outstanding film.

    Sam 'mule' Dunn
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  • cannon fodder

    Rated - 0.5 stars  
    By jimmyhh (2 reviews) , 24 Apr 2012

    [Highly rated reviewer]

    Churned out trash for the masses. You really should get your money back on this one. Half decent cast putting in a less than half decent performance. A shelf filler if ever there was one. Hopefully this was a practice go for future labours as if this is the best that can be churned out by the film industry you have to question the point...
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